How do you move a B-29 over twenty miles in the desert? Take it apart and truck it to the Boeing Plant in Wichita Kansas?

First you have to be very determined. Especially when the price is a completely
reconditioned B-25 in exchange. . . . then you have to be prepared to jump through about 2000hoops!!

Once you've done that then you have to move it to a place suitable for
taking it apart, find a lot of folks willing to volunteer their time, money, and efforts to accomplish
a monumental task.

Tony Mazzolini first saw "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" squadron of 8 B-29 Superfortress
bombers at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York in the early 1950's.
The
Air Force transferred "DOC" to China Lake in late 1956. China
Lake used several older airframes on their ranges as sitting targets.
"DOC" had been used 4 times and the missiles didn't strike their target.
The Navy had sent their other B-29's to scrap while "DOC" sat out on the ranges.
"DOC" was eventually moved back to the storage area and that is where Tony
discovered it. For more information and history of "DOC" visit the
Boeing website.

It starts from a boneyard similar to the one above**.

Note**This is not China Lakes boneyard.

First its necessary to protect all of the components that might be damaged
by obstructions or other contact. On the inside it is necessary to secure
everything that is not firmly attached so it won't move around. There is
some bumpy road ahead and you want to minimize any damage possible.

You obtain a couple of pieces of heavy equipment suitable for pulling an aircraft.
The vehicle with tires appears to be frontloader but when the sand gets
deep and soft a caterpillar was used. (See Below on Highway)

You pull that aircraft across 20 miles of desert to get to the place where you plan
to dismantle and load it on trucks. Environmentalists interested in minimizing
damage to the desert are along to assist.

On the left we see that the tow vehicle has been changed to the caterpillar to provide
traction for moving the big bird!!To avoid damaging the aircrafts structure the tow speed is very slow. People
are very watchful to be sure that the landing gear doesn't fall into deep ruts
or other obstructions. These must be bridged or removed along the way.
Personnel walk with the wings to be sure that they stay clear of obstructions.

Here we see a much larger crew taking part in putting old tires under the
Cats tracks to avoid damaging the highway. The line in front drops the tires
under the treads and the folks behind pick them up and bring them forward if
necessary to be placed under the tracks again. Until the highway is crossed.

Once the aircraft reaches the disassembly/loading point it must painstakingly
be disassembled. The wings, landing gear, and all removable components
are removed and shipped separately. The major portions of the structure
are then craned onto properly padded truck trailers where special adapters
are used to to keep the load stable during transportation. For further
details about DOC's trip to Boeing and the continuing restoration vist the
Boeing website .

"Doc" the B-29

Here are some views of Doc on the way to Boeings Kansas City facility and how Doc
looked in the hangar before the long task of getting it ready for reassembly.

In 1960 I worked at the machine shop out at the airfield. During one lunchtime
a friend and co-worker named Bruce, a gifted and inventive machinist, and I
went out on his motorcycle to where the B29s were parked. We studied the
engines closely and, I am looking for just the right words here, “selected for
a return to active duty” one of the engine’s fuel injector units. It was
designed with nine injectors and we figured out a way to modify it so that it would
have eight injectors. And we also talked about how we might mount it on the
front of an automobile engine; you see where we are going here. The injector
unit was of a very complex design, o-rings and a lot of parts, and by the time
we got it back together, minus a lot of these parts, it would hardly squirt water.
A fun learning experience.

Daniel Hanne (58)
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Long after I finished this page this little story came waltzing in and I couldn't
figure out a better place to put it.